Spurs’ Blair aims to reclaim identity

Tim Duncan seized a rebound late in the first quarter Friday against Atlanta and ignited perhaps the most curious fastbreak in Spurs history.

The Spurs’ power forward whipped an outlet pass ahead to the Spurs’ center. DeJuan Blair took it from there, rambling up the floor and finishing with a nimble Euro-step around Hawks guard Jamal Crawford.

Watching it all unfold from elsewhere on the court, guard George Hill recognized the move.

“He learned it the same place I did,” Hill said. “From copying Manu.”

Blair, maligned to start the season but settling in now, did other things to channel Manu Ginobili in the Spurs’ 108-92 win. He equaled a season high with 16 points, and grabbed a Ginobili-like four steals and a Blair-like 12 rebounds.

“He’s a guy who plays with a lot of energy,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. “It helps make him who he is.”

Heading into today’s matinee matchup with Portland, a team that owns an NBA-best five-game winning streak over the Spurs, all Popovich wants Blair to be is himself.

For the first month of his second NBA season, Blair didn’t seem at all certain of who he was supposed to be.

After earning All-Rookie recognition as a rebounder and put-back artist last season, Blair spent the summer honing other skills. He worked on developing some post moves. He added a mid-range jumper. He rebuilt his free-throw stroke.

When the regular season began, Blair — the shortest regular starting center in the NBA at 6-foot-7 — seemed intent on unleashing all of it at once. The results were not good.

“I was trying to do too much,” Blair said.

Blair, who led all rookies in field-goal percentage last season, shot just 40.9 percent through the end of November, averaging 6.1 points. His minutes were down. He was a one-man “Tiago Splitter for starting center” campaign.

Frequent conversations with the Spurs’ most veteran big men, Duncan and Antonio McDyess, calmed Blair down and lifted his spirits.

“He was losing his confidence,” McDyess said. “I just told him, ‘Man, it’s the beginning of the year. You can’t get down on yourself because we’ve got too many games left.’?”

Blair took the vets’ advice to heart.

“A lot of people would stop and get mad, but I believe you better yourself by keeping going,” Blair said. “If I’ve got these two guys in my corner every day, something great is going to happen.”

In December, something great has happened to Blair. He has rediscovered who he is.

Over the past six games, Blair has posted three double-doubles. He is averaging 11.2 points and 8.5 rebounds during that span, at last becoming a participant in the Spurs’ franchise-best 19-3 start.

“It’s been a tough situation for him at times,” Duncan said. “We still need his energy, his hustle and the little things he gets for us.”

At times, Blair will still struggle against longer frontlines, such as Portland’s. Setbacks, for certain, will come.

Blair remains his best when he plays unchained. He can, at times, overcome his lack of height with a surplus of heart.

That’s how he played as rookie. It’s how he’s played over the past six games, raising his season averages to seven points and seven rebounds.

“My teammates are keeping me in the mix, and I’m taking full advantage,” Blair said. “They keep believing in me, and that’s just giving me more confidence to be myself.”

Then came that curious fastbreak Friday, when Blair briefly had another identity crisis.

Dribbling up the court, Euro-stepping to the basket with authority, Blair briefly looked like someone else.